Morris Museum of Art to host ' Landscape of Slavery ~ The Plantation in American Art '

Friday, 29 August 2008 12:32

AUGUSTA, GEORGIA - Organized by the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, Landscape of Slavery: The Plantation in American Art opens to the public on Saturday, August 23, and remains on view through Sunday, October 19, at the Morris Museum of Art. This groundbreaking exhibition offers a comprehensive, interdisciplinary examination of plantation images in the American South. 

Angela D. Mack, executive director of the Gibbes, explains the inspiration for the project, “The mission of the Gibbes is to tell the story of the visual culture of the South, and the plantation has been (and still continues to be) a defining characteristic of the history and present state of the region. The museum’s collection includes several important works related to the subject, and we were inspired to lead an effort to unravel the realities and fictions that surround the subject matter.” 

The exhibition includes paintings, works on paper, and photographs, as well as mixed media and installation works. Through the eyes of a range of artists (including Eastman Johnson, William Aiken Walker, Alice Ravenel Huger Smith, Edwin Harleston, Carrie Mae Weems, and Kara Walker), Landscape of Slavery examines depictions of plantations and related slave imagery in the context of the history of landscape painting in America. “More than a history of the visual imagery related to the plantation, the show invites one to consider the impact that this imagery has had on race relations for three centuries,” says Mack.

“We are very pleased to have this opportunity to work with our colleagues at the Gibbes Museum—particularly on a project of this quality and scope,” added Kevin Grogan, director of the Morris Museum of Art. “Landscape of Slavery is a critically important examination of the myth of the plantation system, and it will help us to understand the strength, persistence, and peculiar vitality of that myth.”

A genre uniquely associated with the Southern region of the United States, the plantation view has traditionally received marginal attention in the study of American landscape art. Previous work on the plantation subject has emphasized the debt the genre owes to eighteenth century British aesthetic theories and styles. In recent years, however, art historians have worked to identify general shifts in plantation iconography that reflect specific historical events. Meanwhile, plantation views have attracted the attention of social historians who have identified the genre as a rich source for exploring issues of wealth, power, race, memory and nostalgia. Landscape of Slavery seeks to bring these current discussions on the topic together for the public’s consideration.

About the Book . .  Landscape of Slavery: The Plantation in American Art

Serving as a companion to the exhibition of the same name, Landscape of Slavery draws upon art history and social history as it illustrates the complexities of the American South. Landscape of Slavery undertakes an original study of plantation images from the eighteenth century through the present to unravel the realities and mythology inherent in this complex and often provocative subject.

Through ninety-two full-color plates, sixteen black-and-white illustrations and six thematic essays, the book examines depictions of plantation structures, plantation views and related slave imagery and art in the context of the American landscape tradition, addressing the impact of these works on race relations in the United States. Contributors to the volume are Alexis L. Boylan, Michael D. Harris, Leslie King-Hammond, Angela D. Mack, Maurie D. McInnis, Roberta Sokolitz, and John Michael Vlach. Landscape of Slavery is currently available at the Morris Museum of Art store for $24.95. To place your order, call 706-828-3807. 

Public Opening Reception
Thursday, August 28, 6:00–8:00 p.m.
Angela D. Mack, Executive Director of the Gibbes Museum of Art in Charleston, South Carolina, and principal organizer of the exhibition, discusses how it was conceived and assembled. Free. Details at www.themorris.org/calendar/events

Morris Museum of Art
Founded in 1985, the Morris Museum of Art is the oldest and largest museum in the country that is devoted to the art and artists of the American South. The museum’s permanent collection, which holds approximately five thousand paintings, works on paper (watercolors, drawings, prints, and photographs), and sculpture, dating from the late-eighteenth century to the present, is displayed in galleries dedicated to antebellum portraiture, the Civil War, genre painting, still life, landscape, Southern impressionism, contemporary painting, and works on paper. It is open to the public Tuesday through Saturday, 10:00 a.m.–5:00 p.m., and on Sunday, noon–5:00 p.m. For more information about the Morris Museum of Art, visit our web site at www.themorris.org  or call 706-724-7501.

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